1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a service providing system which provides information service to computers for obtaining information over a wide area.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent days, because of spread of networking techniques such as an internet work and personal computer communications and expansion of businesses through networks, wide information services to be utilized by the end users who need to use those services have surprisingly increased.
However, an interface such as World Wide Web currently provided by the internet technique requires each end user to obtain an information providing computer as a connecting destination. At a time, the interface cannot be connected to two or more information providing computers. Hence, each end user has difficulty in finding a truly necessary service from an information ocean containing a massive amount of information and in making efficient use of it without obtaining prerequisite knowledge and taking time.
Where an end user connects his or her computer to an information providing computer through the personal computer communications, the personal computer communications system merely provides a communication path to the information providing computer or leases its database to an information provider. Each end user has to be connected to a system of a destination information provider for sequentially retrieving a service content and applying for admission to a desirous service of the system.
Further, some techniques such as CORBA and DCOM have been proposed for implementing a unified communication interface and protocol on various existing platforms and thereby enhancing the mutual connectivity among those platforms. Like the WWW, those techniques require the user to grasp such a technique until the user reaches some platform. The user who cannot grasp it cannot find the most approximate service. The CORBA employs a technique referred to as xe2x80x9cTrading Servicexe2x80x9d which tries to find out the most approximate platform based on the condition of use inputted by the user. All the end users for this Trading Service are required to grasp the condition of use. The end users cannot dynamically change the condition according to the status of the service provision and input the providing condition on the service providing side. A technique referred to as TINA has been proposed. This TINA is used for standardizing the techniques for processing communication connections among the users in the field of communications based on the technique of CORBA. This technique needs each end user to grasp a destination to be connected with the end user by using the similar technique to Trading referred to as xe2x80x9cBrokerxe2x80x9d. Hence, this technique also has the same problem as CORBA.
The prior information service provides a stationary content and thus supplies the same service in response to the same request irrespective of the end user or the status of the system appearing when the service is required.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mediator and a mediating method through which even a client who does not know an address of a server for providing a service can obtain a target service.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for evaluating a favor and a using history of each end user, selecting a service of an information providing computer for meeting the evaluated result, and supplying the selected service. The method and apparatus preferably make it possible to change a service to be provided by the end user if a new addition or a change of a service of the information providing computer takes place, change the providing service as evaluating an environment and quality of service/information of the system, and deputize some works such as application for admission to use of the service for an information providing computer when the services of plural information providing computers are received in an integrated manner, arrangement among the services, and payment of a service cost to an information provider.
In carrying out the foregoing objects in a preferred mode, according to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a mediating device connecting to a plurality of servers and clients through a network, for mediating data communications between said servers and clients, comprising:
a storage unit for storing a given condition between said server and client;
a mediate agent for comparing a request for a service received by said client with said given condition stored in said storage unit and determining a destination server to which said request is to be transmitted, based on said compared result; and
a communications managing unit connecting to said mediate agent and for transmitting said request to said determined server. It is possible to make the mediating device wherein said mediate agent compares said request for said service received from said client with each type of services stored in said storage unit and determine what type of service is to be transmitted as a request, or compares a time condition provided by said server with said request and determines a destination server to which said request is to be transmitted.
Further, it is possible to make the device include a second storage unit for storing a type of a service provided by another server connected to another mediating device connecting to said network; and wherein
said communications managing unit compares said request with said type of said service provided by said another service. In another aspect of the invention, a service providing system having plural devices for obtaining information and plural devices for providing information connected through a network is configured to have at least one device mediated between the devices for obtaining information and the devices for providing information, the mediated device serving to control receipt of contents requested by the devices for obtaining information, transmission of a request for providing information to at least one of the devices for providing information, obtention of the requested information, and distribution of the information to the devices for obtaining information.
Instead, the mediated device may be arranged to control the process of receiving and storing attribute information provided by at least one of the devices for providing information, retrieving at least one of the devices for providing information based on at least one of the attribute information, a type information concerned with the device for obtaining information, and a content requested by the device for obtaining information.
Instead, the mediating device may be arranged to control the process of receiving and storing the retrieval policy information provided by at least one of the devices for providing information, retrieving at least one of the devices for providing information based on the retrieval policy information, for distributing the information to the retrieved device.
Further, plural networks having plural devices for obtaining information and plural devices for providing information connected therewith may have a network for connecting those networks, a gateway unit for connecting those networks, at least one device mediated between the devices for obtaining information and the devices for providing information and located in each of those networks, and the mediated devices serving to control the process of sharing the content requested by the devices for obtaining information located in each network, retrieving plural devices for providing information in concert, and distributing information from those devices in concert.
Further, the mediated device may be arranged to control the process of receiving and storing attribute information provided by at least one of the devices for providing information, sharing the attribute information with another mediated device located in another network, retrieving at least one of the devices for providing information in concert with another mediated device located in another network, based on at least one of the attribute information, type information concerned with the device for obtaining information, and a content requested by the device for obtaining information, and distributing information to the device for obtaining information.
Moreover, a mediating process is located between at least one of plural devices for obtaining information and at least one of plural devices for providing information. The mediated device may be arranged to control the process of receiving contents requested by the devices for obtaining information, sharing the requested contents in the mediating process located in at least one device, transmitting a request for providing information to at least one of the devices for providing information based on the contents, obtaining the requested information, and distributing information to the devices for obtaining information.
Further, the mediated device is made up of a communications managing unit, a service mediate managing unit, and at least one service mediating agent. The communications managing unit operates to receive the content requested by the device for obtaining information, register attribute information provided by the device for providing information, and managing the communication process provided in the case of providing information. The service mediate managing unit operates to retrieve the device for providing information based on at least one of type information concerned with the device for obtaining information, attribute information concerned with the device for providing information, and mediate policy information for retrieving the device for providing information. The service mediate agent operates to select and start the application programs in the devices for providing information to be retrieved, pass a proper value to the application programs, and obtain the contents of the information provided by the application programs, for the purpose of controling the distribution of the information to the devices for obtaining information.
Further, the mediated device is made up of a communications managing unit, a service mediate managing unit, and at least one service mediate agent. The service mediate managing unit operates to share the type information concerned with the device for obtaining information, the attribute information concerned with the device for providing information, and mediate policy information for retrieving the device for providing information with another mediated device located in another network. Then, the service mediate managing unit operates to retrieve the device for providing information in concert with another mediated device based on at least one of those pieces of informations. The service mediate agent operates to select and start application programs running in the devices for providing information to be retrieved, pass a proper value to the application programs, obtain the contents of the information provided by the application programs, integrate the contents of the information provided by the application programs with each other, for the purpose of controlling the process of distributing the information.